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I'm not trying to diminish the problem, just to suggest maybe not all the HD channels are doing this all the time.

I've kinda watched this thread since you started it, but even though it's baseball season, and the number and amount of non-baseball channels that impede upon the 99.9% of time that any game is on (okay, there IS time before 7pm EST in my daily schedule, but it's sure much nicer being on the west coast than the east if you don't want to doze off in the easy chair on those west coast games!!!)....

BUT, dropouts occur on every channel, every minute/hour, every game, on all the systems I own.

If you listen closely, and especially with live baseball, you'll get 'micro-dropouts' even on the HR20-100 direct HDMI to the HDTV set. I'm sure that most folks would not notice it, but I do. Those 'micro' happenings kick both my large (yes, old) Yamaha (I'm taking a collection to get something with TrueHD/DTS-HD-MA!) as well as the newer little Panasonic surround amp in the trailer to 'skip'.

Right now, I'm watching the TB Rays game on SunSports, who do not have Dolby Digital turned on, and so its flat stereo. Still dropouts. Maybe not as many as, say, NESN or YES, but they're there. Consistently.

It's a system-wide problem. And since it occurs even on those channels that are NOT Dolby Digital, it's something that all channels are routed through, and that includes non-HD and non-Dolby types.

If you listen closely, and especially with live baseball, you'll get 'micro-dropouts' even on the HR20-100 direct HDMI to the HDTV set. I'm sure that most folks would not notice it, but I do.

I respect and believe you and that you're getting/hearing these, and only wanted to suggest my ears aren't that bad either and I do tend to notice even the shortest ones, but for most of the channels I've been watching the last few/several days, they simply haven't been there, but then I'm also not watching baseball and remote sports feeds have been some of the worst for these.

I think that why it's more noticeable on the sports/baseball feeds, is the constant/near-constant background crowd noise. That makes the dropouts, large and small, VERY noticeable, next to, say, network drama's where the background music may be nowhere near as constant.

But you do perhaps have a point on the fact that the games are 'remote', and if so, then (and I'm going to get 'technical' here), since everything in HD is digital (and in fact the SD-Audio probably is), we are probably seeing a 'jitter' problem with the feeds.

Jitter is accumulative. It's VERY difficult to impossible to 'clean up' or remove (read: expensive circuitry). It can be minimized, but only through careful engineering of the equipment and systems.

In my early years, I spent a month on an early digital microwave system (circa 1974) trying to get the digital carrier to 'settle down'. All the testing showed that each RF repeater and associated digital re-combiner was operating well within spec, yet when hooked up in tandem, would fall fall on it's face.

Turned out that the test equipment simply, at the time, wasn't up to the task of identifying (and conversely, allowing good alignment) of those repeater circuits. I bashed together some ideas to improve the sensitivity of that test gear, and managed to get it to give me some idea of what was going on, and more accurately align the system. (Look up 'regenerative repeaters')

More so than even the manufacturers rep or the factory the equipment had come out of could do.

It's this kind of experience, repeated more times I care to mention, that tells me right off the bat that unless and until DirecTV gets some independent (not DirecTV or a manufacturers rep) person in there, with no axe to grind one way or the other, it's pretty much shooting in the dark.

There's always the possibility they'll 'trip' across where the problem lies, but......

Dropouts don't bother my spouse or kids, but annoy me as I'm much more anal about the quality of what I watch and hear. DirecTV video quality is superb. Too bad DD5.1 isn't up to the same standards. Any ETA from D*TV on when this problem will be resolved?

Equipment list:
- HR21-700 DVR connected to Onkyo TX-SR876 A/V receiver via HDMI
- Sharp LC-52D64U connected to Onkyo via HDMI as well.
HD channels not broadcasting in DD5.1 are converted to PIIx Movie surround mode by the Onkyo w/o dropouts. Personally, I'd rather live with the dropouts and the superior audio effects of DD5.1, rather than turn off DD and listen to audio via PIIx Movie mode. Dolby PIIx mode just isn't the same. Has anyone else played with other surround modes such as Neo or THX? How do they compare to PIIx or DD5.1. Haven't experimented myself yet.

I'm not much help, because as strange as it seems, I really don't watch that much TV (and much of what I do watch is broadcast TV, which I don't typically watch via DirecTV). But I did watch some Science Channel HD last night, and noticed them. Not NEARLY as bad as they were like a year ago. These were separated by minutes, rather than seconds.

I have absolutely zero dropouts on my HR22-100, but what I do have ,and what D* refuses to acknowledge, is No Center Channel on the 101 network DD5.1 programming.

I've posted this issue in 2 threads, and only received one confirmation of the same issue.

I've got my HR22 audio out going coax to my Denon AVR988.
The input display shows DD5.1, but there is ZERO audio coming out of the center channel. Obviously, this makes following dialog a real challenge.

I have noticed intermittently, on some of the 101 promo's, and a C&W concert that was on in June( don't know who, 'cause I'm not a fan of the genre), the Center Channel does/did transmit.

Had a ticket open 4/29, and followed up for 2 weeks with no resolution.
I gave up the ghost.

I will admit I am no audiophile and I have no fancy sound equipment, but I have never noticed any audio dropouts on any channel ever. I have Dolby Digital 5.1 enabled and use a Sony sound-bar with the sub-woofer doubling as the receiver. I have an HR21/200 with HDMI connecting straight to the TV for video, but I am using fiber cables to the receiver for the audio.

Tonight I had 3 audio dropouts at the 15th, 26th, and 27th minute of The Colony on the Discovery channel. I saved this recording because I am going to be using it to compare the length of audio dropouts I have with a Pioneer receiver once I get it. (currently using an Onkyo and each dropout lasts about 3 seconds).

Most of the non-pay VOD available isn't Dolby, but flat stereo; I've never heard any dropouts on it.

But today, I 'got around' to watching a VOD Dolby movie that was filled with dropouts every couple of minutes, throughout the entire 2hr film.

Absolutely inexcusable. Obviously ZERO quality control. Although the transfer mechanism (or actually whatever d/l system, both at their head-end and my HR) could be at fault, although that gets us into another area (that's even worse), programmers.

The film is 'Lifeforce', a Tobe Hooper classic, done between 'Poltergeist' and 'Invaders From Mars' (remake).

Spoke to D*TV tech support this afternoon on another issue, and casually mentioned to rep that I've experienced audio dropouts on HD shows with DD5.1 on. Told him I had a service tech over a few weeks ago who downloaded a firmware upgrade, tightened my dish alignment, but had zero affect on the fixing the audio dropouts. Also said I learned via DBSTalk that the problem resides with audio codec compatibility with MPEG4 broadcasts.

Tech rep said he wished I had spoken to him. He acknowledged audio dropouts are indeed a problem and DirecTV is working on correcting them. He said the audio problems began when D*TV implemented a fix for audio level problems between shows and commercials. Seems fixing one problem inadvertently caused another. He also said he's experienced the same audio problems with his home theater setup in South Dakota. So he shares out pain.

He felt a permanent fix would be ready in a month or so, possibly sooner. I'm sure all of us on this thread would certainly hope so.

Spoke to D*TV tech support this afternoon on another issue, and casually mentioned to rep that I've experienced audio dropouts on HD shows with DD5.1 on. Told him I had a service tech over a few weeks ago who downloaded a firmware upgrade, tightened my dish alignment, but had zero affect on the fixing the audio dropouts. Also said I learned via DBSTalk that the problem resides with audio codec compatibility with MPEG4 broadcasts.

Tech rep said he wished I had spoken to him. He acknowledged audio dropouts are indeed a problem and DirecTV is working on correcting them. He said the audio problems began when D*TV implemented a fix for audio level problems between shows and commercials. Seems fixing one problem inadvertently caused another. He also said he's experienced the same audio problems with his home theater setup in South Dakota. So he shares out pain.

He felt a permanent fix would be ready in a month or so, possibly sooner. I'm sure all of us on this thread would certainly hope so.

I don't think the tech got it right. The drop-outs (non-HR24) involve the encoders (MPEG-4), which have nothing to do with the volume adjustments.It was an interesting guess on his part, but far off the mark.

The part he had right is that D* knows about it an is working on a fix. The problem is a difficult one with no easy fix. I am confident that it will eventually get fixed, but it isn't going to be "real soon now". Try not to get your hopes up, and if it bothers you a lot, turn Dolby Digital off (in your sat box), which seems to help a lot of people hide the problem.

I like DD so much, I leave mine on, and tolerate the drop-outs (at least for now).